Stopping play: Calls to bottle up Cuttack gather pace

Crowd troubles may see city stripped of hosting rights in the future

NEW DELHI: India great Sunil Gavaskar led calls on Tuesday for Cuttack to be banned as a cricket venue after crowd trouble twice brought a halt to play in a T20 international against South Africa.

Angry Indian fans hurled water bottles onto the field of play in Monday night’s match at the Barabati stadium after the hosts were bowled out for 92, their second-lowest total in T20 matches.

The Proteas sauntered to a six-wicket victory but not before match referee Chris Broad had ordered organisers to provide additional security forces in the packed stands of the 45,000-capacity venue.

“There has to be a deterrent, you cannot allow that to happen,” Gavaskar told NDTV. “I would imagine that the next time they are due for an international game, that should not be given to them.”

Gavaskar also said the annual subsidy provided to the Orissa Cricket Association, the host body, by the Indian board (BCCI) should be stopped. “Quite clearly a strong message has to be sent,” he added.

The Barabati stadium, which has hosted two Tests and 18 ODIs since 1982, is not a venue for next year’s World T20 to be held in India.

The first bottle-throwing incident came in the break between innings, but when it happened again after 11 overs of the South African innings, the match was held up for 27 minutes.

When play resumed, it was stopped again after two overs for another 24 minutes as security forces cleared the section of the crowd that was causing the disruption.

The rest of the game passed off without further incident, allowing the Proteas to win comfortably and take a decisive 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

South Africa’s T20 captain Faf du Plessis, who turns out for the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League, said it had saddened him. “I have been playing in India for the last five to six years and never have I witnessed such an incident,” he told reporters. “I don’t think it’s nice for cricket. Hopefully, it’s the first and last time I’m seeing such a thing.”

However, India’s limited-over captain MS Dhoni played down the bottle-throwing, saying it never threatened the players.

“Frankly, from a safety point of view, I don’t think there was a very serious threat,” Dhoni said at the post-match briefing. “We didn’t play well — at times you get reactions like this. We should not read too much into it.”

There has been no reaction from the BCCI so far. The final T20 game will be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday. 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 7^th, 2015.

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